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Metro Cooking DC Show (Nov 5-6)

Anyone going to the DC cooking and entertaining show Nov 5&6? I've never attended one, but will be helping at a booth this year (a food booth for a friend of my mom). Might have to rock a JKS T-shirt on one of the days, unless the 'corporate dress code' requires a collared shirt. Will also ask if they would like to add ambiance by having a nice cutting board and a couple of knives out on the table as part of the backdrop...

It's funny, but all the Paula Dean and Guy Fieri stuff is sold out, but not Jacques Pepin

I went a few years ago in Atlanta as a class field trip. It's fun but geared to stay-at-moms , no offense to anyone. Went to see Bobby Flay, got an autographed cook book. He did a cooking demo which was nothing to sneer at.

Yeah, the FoodTV 'personality' part of it is not my cup of tea. I don't think we are forking over the $$ to see any of them or their demos, not even Pepin (it's $150/ person to attend his stuff!).

We'll be in the exhibit hall, spooning out caponata samples for the unwashed masses. I'm mainly interested in visiting booths to try some of the food products. A chef who holds cooking classes in the DC area has talked up the NY shows quite a bit, and I'll be happy if this show is 50% as good as one of those. Plus since my wife has expressed interest in marketing some foods (breads, eggplant caviar), this will be our first look at what it takes to showcase products to potential buyers.

I think there will be a lot of foot traffic, and hopefully some of the 'stars' will stroll through and talk to the booth operators. And if I can generate any interest in knives or cutting boards I'll feel like I accomplished something. There is more then enough $$ in the DC area to keep BoardSmith, DM, etc. busy for a while if the consumers here were exposed to them.

There is more then enough $$ in the DC area to keep BoardSmith, DM, etc. busy for a while if the consumers here were exposed to them.

Funny you should mention this now. I am looking at the shows for next year and I was considering Beer, Bourbon & BBQ in Timonium, MD or National Harbor, MD as possibilities for next year. This event was super terrific for me in Cary, NC and a positive dud in Charlotte, NC and I was considering the mentioned events as possibilities. Any opinions?

Sorry -- I have not been on the forum the last 1-1/2 weeks or so. Crapload of people at the show. I easily spooned out 2,500 samples of the caponatta my mom's friend had made. There were 3-4 of us in the booth most of the time; I 'plated' non-stop for two days while others stood in the aisle giving out samples, drawing in potential customers, etc.

There were a few booths with knives, but nothing like we're used to on the BBS. And I did not see any cutting boards.

95% of the people there were just interested in free food, but there were enough serious people around to make it worthwhile to try marketing a higher-end product.

Since the booth fee is $800+, I could see pooling together a couple makers/ vendors to share some space. And I think there would be a bit of interest in BoardSmith boards.

The lady working the booth next to ours spent ~15 years producing cooking shows for some well-know TV cooking personalities. She's interested in opening a storefront geared more towards serious cooks, since SlT, WS, etc. have veered more to gimicky stuff. She's very interested in carbon knives, old cast iron cookware, etc.

While I am not in the food business in any way, shape or form, we finished the weekend with a couple things worth following up on.

And yes, there was a HUGE display/ booth from the makers of the Fieri knives :-)

Dave, please feel free to PM me or send me an email if you'd like more info about how the show was set up and how things went. I could see a booth next year sporting Boardsmith boards with one or two people there putting on cutting demos with knives from makers on KKF while Dave M does some sharpening along with an occassional talk about hand making knives and handles.